Q: I am interested in finding out if a homeowners association can dictate that cars cannot be parked on the street in front of a single-family residence, and that they must instead be in the driveway or garage. — Sherrie

A: The answer to your question turns on a single point that most people do not stop to consider, namely, who actually owns the street.

In some communities, the association owns and maintains the streets. These are typically called private roads. In others, the streets in front of your home are owned by the city or the county and are open to the general public. These are public roads, even when they run through a gated or restricted community.

The distinction matters a great deal.

If the streets are private and belong to the association, the association generally has the authority to regulate parking on them, including a rule requiring vehicles to be kept in driveways or garages. Because the association owns the road, it can set reasonable rules for its use.

If the streets are public and belong to the local government, the analysis is very different. An association cannot regulate land it does not own. The city or county controls public streets, and parking on those streets is governed by state and local traffic laws.

As a general matter, where a homeowner has a legal right to park on the public road in front of the home, the association cannot override that right through its governing documents.

The recent legal trend has been to limit how far an association can extend its reach into where homeowners and their guests park their personal vehicles. The trend has been to protect the homeowner’s ability to park an ordinary personal vehicle, including a pickup truck, in the driveway or in any other area where the homeowner already has a legal right to park.

Boards that have not updated their thinking on parking rules in the past few years should take a fresh look.

Even when an association has the authority to limit street parking, it must enforce the rule reasonably and consistently. Selective enforcement, in which the rule is applied to one neighbor but not another, is one of the quickest ways for an association to lose the ability to enforce the rule at all.

Most associations are also required to provide written notice and an opportunity for a hearing before imposing any fine.

Start by reviewing your association’s governing documents and, if possible, obtaining written confirmation of whether the streets in your community are private or public. The plat map on file with the county is often the easiest way to confirm ownership.

Once you know who owns the road, you will know how much authority your association has to regulate activity on it.

Cars parked on the street are a perennial source of friction in our neighborhoods, and the rules are not always intuitive. Knowing the difference between a private and a public road in your community is the first step toward resolving it.

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